Three-touchdown performances by senior quarterback Cade Sexauer and sophomore wide receiver Andrew McElroy propelled the St. Thomas football team to a 49-42 win over San Diego Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.

The Pioneer Football League-leading Tommies (7-1, 5-0) extended their home regular season win streak to 36 games. Last season, the Tommies fell 27-24 to San Diego (3-4, 2-2) on the road.

San Diego got on the board first on a short run by junior running back Isaiah Smith after the Toreros recovered a muffed punt return by McElroy on the 3-yard line.

However, McElroy redeemed himself two plays later after he caught a 75-yard pass from Sexauer for a TD to tie the game.

On the first play of the second quarter, graduate student quarterback Judd Erickson threw a 1-yard TD pass to pull the Toreros ahead once again.

However, some St. Thomas offensive trickery led to another touchdown on the ensuing drive. Senior quarterback Cade Sexauer threw a lateral to first-year receiver Bryce Boyd, who threw a wide-open 36-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Wesley Juszczak.

For the second time in the game, the St. Thomas special teams hurt themselves as the Toreros blocked a punt, which was recovered on the St. Thomas 5-yard line. With their second time opening a drive on first-and-goal in the game, Toreros sophomore receiver Ja’seem Reed caught a 5-yard pass to put the Toreros up 21-14.

Once again, the Tommies responded on their ensuing drive with a 70-yard run to the house by sophomore running back Shawn Shipman to tie the score again.

In the second half, both teams came out slinging even more than in the first half.

The Toreros started the scoring in the second half on a 73-yard TD pass that might have stunned most teams into a lull. However, McElroy took a kickoff return 95 yards down the field for a score on the next play to tie it at 28.

The Tommies took their first lead of the game with 8:41 left in the third quarter when Sexauer hit McElroy for 57-yards for the receiver’s third TD of the game.

This time, the Toreros responded with a long play of their own as junior quarterback Re-al Mitchell took a direct snap 53 yards for a score.

In the fourth quarter, Sexauer ran a 14-yarder in for himself to break the tie once again and give the Tommies a 42-35 lead.

Sexauer later finished the scoring barrage with a 41-yard throw to Juszczak, putting the Tommies up by two scores with 7:30 to go.

Erickson and the Toreros would not go down without a fight, responding with a 17-yard TD pass to senior receiver Michael Carner.

With 3:50 left, the Tommies ran down most of the clock before finally punting, giving San Diego the ball with about a minute to go. The Tommies’ defense showed out, keeping the Toreros out of the end zone.

Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.